The Flash boss breaks down new season 2 characters 

Last we saw The Flash, a.k.a. Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), he’d accidentally opened up a wormhole, exposing Central City to a whole new world of danger — and we’ll come to learn in season 2 that the world is Earth-Two.

executive producer Andrew Kreisberg tells EW. “Time travel can be a very tricky concept if done poorly, and we took great strides and worked really hard to make our version of time travel easy to digest for the masses, but still complex and exciting enough for the diehard fans.”

are taking the same approach with Earth-Two, “and the concept of the multiverse, and the concept of doppelgängers,” Kreisberg continues. “We’ve been having a lot of fun with that and getting glimpses of Earth-Two probably sooner than people would’ve thought. It’s still

. It’s still the same show. It still has those characters and that camaraderie, but our villains are coming from a brand new place and we’re dealing with different concepts, and it’s just really exciting.” Below, Kreisberg introduces us to the new characters coming this year:

Known as the first DC Comics character to take on the mantle of The Flash, Jay will act as a mentor to Barry — though their dynamic is akin to the Han Solo/Luke Skywalker one. “There’s a little condescension from Jay,” Kreisberg says. “Jay is a little bit more world-weary and he’s seen a lot. He’s been The Flash for a while, so he’s a little further along in his career. He’s seen a lot of darkness, and it’s jaded him a little bit. He thinks Barry can be a bit naïve about the way the world works.”

In turn, Barry will bring out a new side in Jay. “One of Barry’s greatest gifts — and truly it’s one of Grant’s greatest gifts, too — is he’s got such an infectious energy and such a purity of heart that he makes you want to be a better person,” Kreisberg says. “As much as Barry learns from Jay about being The Flash, Jay learns just as much about being a good person from Barry.”

Destined to become the speedster known as Kid Flash, Wally is just an ordinary teenager when he’s introduced in the winter. “I would liken Wally coming in to the way we brought on Colton Haynes on to

,” Kreisberg says. “Just like with Colton Haynes, who eventually one day put on the Arsenal costume, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day Wally West becomes Kid Flash.”

“Part of the season is watching Barry mature and grow up not just as The Flash, but as Barry Allen,” Kreisberg continues. “Suddenly introducing him to a bit of a wayward kid who has some attitude problems and some authority issues and is quick with a sassy remark — all of which is very Wally West — and then watching Wally integrate into S.T.A.R. Labs universe, but also just the world of these characters, is going to be a lot of the fun of the back half of the year.”

Even faster than the Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh), this season’s big bad isn’t a repeat of last year. “We wanted another speedster as a villain, but we wanted to do something slightly different,” Kreisberg says. “Reverse Flash felt like a warrior, and what we wanted this time was something more akin to a monster. When you finally see Zoom, he looks like a demon, and it’s really scary. It’s more horrific. You should feel like when one of H.R. Giger’s aliens comes in the room. The mask is really amazing.”

Staying coy on who will actually play Zoom — Tony Todd will lend his voice to the character — Kreisberg explains, “Like with Wells last year, he has a very specific agenda and a very specific and very clean reason for doing what he’s doing. When we open the season, he’s a villain of Earth-Two, and now he has access to Earth-One. Yet again, our team has created their own nemeses for the season. Watching how Zoom enacts his plan is the plot of the first nine episodes.”

A police officer and potential love interest for Barry, Patty is eager to join Joe’s (Jesse L. Martin) anti-metahuman task force. “She’s got a very specific reason for wanting to fight metahumans, which we’ll learn about during the course of the season,” Kreisberg says. “She’s a science nerd, too. She really loves the science aspect of it, and she and Barry really bond on that level, but she also loves the action.”

“She earns her metahuman fighting stripes in the second episode,” Kreisberg continues. “One of the cool things about Patty is it’s one thing to take on bank robbers, it’s another to take on someone who can turn into poison gas, or another guy who can control the weather. At a key moment early on, Patty is the only cop who stands her ground, and that proves to Joe that she’s got what it takes.”

To continue reading more about EW’s Fall TV Preview, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands now, or buy it here.

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